Henry Barnard letters (MSS-0096)

Biographical/Historical Note

Henry Barnard was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1811. In 1843, he was appointed by the governor of Rhode Island to examine public schools in the state and recommend improvements. Barnard was the first commissioner of public schools in Rhode Island, serving from 1845-1849. In 1845, Barnard established the Smithville Seminary, a teacher’s college, in Rhode Island and later served as superintendent and principal of the Connecticut State Normal School in New Britain, Connecticut from 1851-1855. He also was the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1859-1860), president of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland (1866), and served as the first United States Commissioner of Education (1867-1870). Barnard died in Hartford, Connecticut in 1900.